World Premiere of Dhaba on Devon Avenue at Writers Theatre June 19 – July 27, 2025

 ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Writers Theatre concludes its 2024/25 Season with 

the World Premiere of

Dhaba on Devon Avenue

Written by Madhuri Shekar

Directed by Chay Yew

Produced in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company

June 19 – July 27, 2025

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma and Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Artistic Director Braden Abraham, concludes its 2024/25 Season with Madhuri Shekar’s Dhaba on Devon Avenue, directed by Chay Yew. Dhaba on Devon Avenue will run June 19-July 27, 2025 in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. 

Tickets are on sale at Writers Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe; 847-242-6000; www.writerstheatre.org.  

Dhaba Canteen has been a stalwart institution on Chicago’s Devon Avenue since the ‘80s, serving up delicious Sindhi food with the power to transport diners back to the halcyon days of undivided India. Times are changing, however. With the bank threatening foreclosure and Chef Neeraj’s health in decline, the restaurant may soon be cooking up its last meal—unless sous chef Rita can convince her father to let her take over the kitchen. Rich with culinary tradition and dramatic twists, Dhaba on Devon Avenue serves up a searing Chicago-set story of family, legacy, and survival at all costs. 

This World Premiere production Dhaba on Devon Avenue is produced in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company.

Dhaba on Devon Avenue is produced in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director PJ Powers and Executive Director Mica Cole.

"Writers Theatre is honored to join forces with TimeLine Theatre Company, an organization whose dedication to illuminating history through imaginative storytelling perfectly aligns with our own artistic values. This collaboration feels like a natural extension of both our missions," said Writers Theatre Artistic Director Braden Abraham. “Madhuri Shekar's vibrant new work invites audiences into the heart of Chicago's Indian community, where tradition and innovation collide in a deeply personal exploration of cultural heritage. Both funny and scathingly direct, Madhuri's timely play explores the complexities of allegiance, independence, and what it truly means to belong.”

“TimeLine is thrilled to partner with Writers Theatre, an organization that we’ve greatly admired throughout our history, not only for its mission but also its commitment to audience engagement and uplifting the esteemed artists who work on stage and behind the scenes,” said TimeLine Theatre Artistic Director PJ Powers. “It’s an honor to collaborate with them and director Chay Yew to bring to life Madhuri Shekar’s play. Delving into the rich history of Chicago’s famed Devon Avenue and Indian cuisine, this world premiere is a wonderful marriage between TimeLine and Writers, coalescing our missions and artistic aesthetics, as we present this heart-stirring and timely story about identity, culture, and legacy.”

The cast is: Isa Arciniegas (Luz Fuentes), Arya Daire (Sindhu Madhwani), Kamal Hans (Adil Jaisinghani), Anish Jethmalani (Neeraj Madhwani), and Tina Muñoz Pandya (Rita Madhwani).

The creative team includes: Chay Yew (Director), Lauren M. Nichols (Scenic Designer), Christine Pascual (Costume Designer), Christine A. Binder (Lighting Designer), Eric Backus (Sound Designer), Kristina Fluty (Intimacy Director), and Karina Patel (Dramaturg). The stage manager is Katie Klemme and the assistant stage manager is Alexis Wiley.

Dates: First performance: June 19, 2025

Press opening: Friday, June 27, at 7:30pm 

Closing performance: July 27, 2025

Performance Schedule:

Wednesdays: 3:00pm (July 2 & 16 only) and 7:30pm

Thursdays: 7:30pm 

Fridays: 7:30pm

Saturdays: 3:00pm (except June 21) and 7:30pm

Sundays: 2:00pm and 6:00pm (June 29 & July 13 only)

Open Captioned Performance: Thursday, July 10 at 7:30pm

ASL-Interpreted Performance: Saturday, July 19 at 3:00pm

Location: Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe

Prices: $35-$95

Discounts are available for students, educators, theater industry professionlas, active military personnel, veterans, police officers, firefighters, and their immediate families. Information is available at: https://www.writerstheatre.org/plan-your-visit/box-office-and-theatre-center/pricing--special-offers

Box Office: The Box Office is located at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe; 847-242-6000; www.writerstheatre.org.

Dhaba on Devon Avenue is inspired by Chicago’s South Asian community, the third largest population of South Asians in the country. The play takes place on Devon Avenue on the far north side of Chicago, an area renowned for its remarkable diversity, and a magnet for immigrants as they settle in to life in America.

DHABA ON DEVON EVENTS

South Asian Community Night 

Friday, July 11 at 6pm 

Members of the South Asian community are invited to Writers Theatre for an evening of good food, great company, and outstanding theatre! Join us for a pre-show reception and exclusive post-show discussion with members of the creative team. Enjoy happy hour specials at the WT bar and food for purchase from Highland Park’s top-rated restaurant Indus.  

Family Matinee 

Saturday, July 12 at 3pm 

Parents and caregivers can see the 3pm matinee of the production and drop their young ones off for an imaginative afternoon at a special onsite theatre class with Writers Theatre Education’s expert teaching artists.

The Restaurant Generation: South Asian cuisine and the immigrant story 

In association with TimeLine Theatre’s Sunday Scholars program 

Sunday, July 20 at 12pm 

Join local experts for a discussion of the importance of the food industry to new arrivals and the evolution of South Asian flavors in America. 

The Final Word Audience Discussion 

Sunday, July 27 at 12pm 

Join Writers Theatre Artistic staff and fellow audience members for a conversation about the themes and production elements of the show. 

Glencoe Al Fresco 

It’s too nice to eat inside! Writers Theatre, the Village of Glencoe and Glencoe Public Library invite you to WLC park for food trucks, happy hour specials, live bands and activities for the whole family on Friday nights in July. 

Upcoming Education & Engagement Programs 

Wake Up Words Family Playtime 

Sunday, June 8 at 11am

Stories jump off the page on select Sunday mornings at Writers Theatre. Each Playtime pairs a favorite story with another art form and is a unique opportunity for young children and their families to create together. Designed for ages 3-6 and their parents/caregivers, siblings welcome.  

Show & Tell Storytelling: True Colors

Tuesday, June 10 at 7pm 

Enjoy an engaging evening of storytelling at our monthly Show & Tell series. Each event features talented professional storytellers and celebrates unique themes in a relaxed environment. In June, celebrate Pride Month at True Colors, an evening of stories celebrating the queer experience. Tickets are Pay What You Can. 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Madhuri Shekar has said that Dhaba on Devon Avenue is “my ode to the quiet heroism and daily struggles that are required to be an artist, an entrepreneur, an immigrant, and a parent.” 

Madhuri Shekar (Playwright)’s plays have been produced across the United States and internationally. They include House of Joy, Queen, In Love and Warcraft, A Nice Indian Boy, and many other works specifically for young audiences. In TV and film, her projects include the movies Evil Eye and A Nice Indian Boy, and the TV shows The Nevers and 3 Body Problem. She is an alumnus of USC and Juilliard. She is thrilled that Dhaba on Devon Avenue, a play commissioned with love for the city of Chicago, is getting its world premiere now with Writers Theater and Timeline Theatre Company. 

Playwright Madhuri Shekar is the 2020 winner of the Lanford Wilson Playwrighting Award, established by the Estate of Lanford Wilson and presented by the Dramatists Guild Council to a dramatist based primarily on their work as an early career playwright. Her play A Nice Indian Boy was adapted into a feature film and is now playing in theaters to great critical acclaim. 

Chay Yew (Director) His New York credits include the Public, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, Signature, New York City Center Encores!, Flea, Playwrights Realm, Audible, Rattlestick, and Ensemble Studio Theatre. His regional credits include the Goodman, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Rep, Arena, American Conservatory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Alley Theatre, Goodspeed, South Coast Rep, Old Globe, Center Theatre Group, Denver Center Theater, Huntington, Seattle Rep, Writers Theatre, Victory Gardens, amongst others. His opera credits include Perelman Performing Arts Center, Tanglewood, and LA Philharmonic. He is a recipient of the 2024 Doris Duke Artist Award, and the OBIE for direction.

Director Chay Yew returns to Writers Theatre where he previously directed Dishwasher Dreams. In May 2025, Yew was highlighted by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union as one of the 65 directors and choreographers whose “work has inspired SDC Members and transformed the American theatre.”

Isa Arciniegas (Luz Fuentes) Chicago credits: Love Song (Remy Bumppo); Solaris (Griffin Theatre); How to Defend Yourself (Victory Gardens Theatre); Wolf Play (The Gift Theatre); First Love Is the Revolution (Steep Theatre); Fantastic Mr. Fox (Emerald City Theatre); The Wolves (Goodman Theatre, Jeff Award—Best Ensemble), Fun Home (Victory Gardens Theater); Buried Child (Writers Theatre); We’re Gonna Die (Haven Theatre Company, ALTA Award—Outstanding Actor in a Principal Role in a Musical); Good Friday (Oracle Productions); American Idiot (The Hypocrites); Romeo and Juliet (Teatro Vista); and Adventures with Aladdin (Lookingglass Theatre Company with Chicago Symphony Orchestra). Regional: Where Did We Sit On the Bus? (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre); Such Things as Vampires (People’s Light Theatre); Stinky Cheese Man and Letters Home (Griffin Theatre National Tour). TV/FILM: The Bear, Swipe Up, Vivian!, Grace and Betty, Kissing Wells.

Arya Daire (Sindhu Madhwani)  Chicago Credits: An Enemy of the People (Goodman Theatre; Jeff Nomination for Best New Adaptation), A Disappearing Number (TimeLine Theatre Company), Inana (TimeLine Theatre), Julius Caesar (Writers Theatre), Samsara (Victory Gardens), Much Ado About Nothing (Victory Gardens), Principal Principle (Stage Left Theatre; Jeff Nomination for Best New Play), Big Lake, Big City (Lookingglass Theatre), Suburbia (University of Chicago), Disconnect (Victory Gardens), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Beverly Arts Center). Regional Credits: A Christmas Carol (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre), Miranda (Indiana Repertory Theatre). Film & TV: A Christmas Carol - The Concert (PBS; Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Original Music & Lyrics), Chicago Fire (NBC). 

Kamal Hans (Adil Jaisinghani) has appeared in Disconnect (Victory Gardens), Multitudes!, A Passage to India (Vitalist Theatre), Invasion!, Merchant on Venice (Silk Road Theatre), Kabulitus, Much Ado About Nothing, A Nice Indian Boy (Rasaka) F*#kn’ A, Cuba and His Teddy Bear (Urban Theater), Fanny, Tempest, West Side Story (ITC), and Chess (Phoenix). Film & TV: Contagion, “Consumed!”, Marvel, The Last Question, Promise Land, “Chicago PD”, “Chicago Med”, “Shameless”. Goodman school of drama, Julliard, Illinois Wesleyan University, R.A.D.A.

Anish Jethmalani (Neeraj Madhwani) returns to Writers Theatre where he previously appeared in The Caretaker and To the Greenfields Beyond. Chicago credits include The Lehman Trilogy, Campaigns Inc., Oslo, In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play, A Disappearing Number, Inana, and Blood & Gifts (TimeLine Theatre); Wit and A Christmas Carol (The Goodman Theatre); Titus Andronicus, Water by the Spoonful, Mary Stuart, The Invention of Love and Life is a Dream (Court Theatre);  Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Around the World in 80 Days, and Sita Ram (Lookingglass); as well as various productions at Chicago Shakespeare, Victory Gardens, Remy Bumppo, A Red Orchid, and more. Regional credits include Henry VII and Much Ado About Nothing at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Film and television credits include Deli Boys (Hulu), Station Eleven (Max), 61st Street (CW), Chicago PD (NBC), Chicago Med (NBC), APB (Fox), Boss (Starz), Leverage (TNT), Empire (Fox), Early Edition (CBS), Batman vs. Superman, Girl on the Third Floor, Animals and more. He is a company member of TimeLine Theatre.

Tina Muñoz Pandya (Rita Madhwani) is an actor, musician, and teaching artist whose Chicago credits include: The Matchbox Magic Flute (Goodman Theatre); London Road and The Tall Girls (Shattered Globe Theatre); The Secretaries (First Floor Theater); Anna in the Tropics (Remy Bumppo Theatre); Mr. Burns (Theater Wit); The Mousetrap (Court Theatre); and Octagon (Jackalope Theatre). Regional and touring credits include: The Matchbox Magic Flute (Shakespeare Theatre DC, Berkeley Rep); As You Like It and The Old Man and the Old Moon (Door Shakespeare); Matt and Ben (Penobscot Theatre); House of Joy (St. Louis Rep); The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV Pt 1 (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks); and HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado (The Hypocrites). You can also hear her on the Chicago-based audio dramas The Vanishing Act and Fawx and Stallion. Tina is an ensemble member with Shattered Globe Theatre.

WRITERS THEATRE 2025/26 SEASON 

The 2025-26 Season launches with Hershey Felder’s brand-new musical play Rachmaninoff and the Tsar, followed by a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s As You Like It by Tony Award winner Shaina Taub (Suffs), directed by Artistic Director Braden Abraham with music direction by Michael Mahler. Celebrated Chicago director Lisa Portes joins Writers for the first time to direct Two Sisters and a Piano, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz, followed by the Midwest Premiere of the off-Broadway/Broadway hit Job by Max Wolf Friedlich, directed by David Esbjornson. The subscription season caps off with the Midwest and Chicago Premiere of Tom Stoppard’s epic, Tony Award-winning play Leopoldstadt, directed by Carey Perloff. The season also includes two productions available as add-ons to subscription packages: the one-night only special event of Hershey Felder’s Great American Songbook Sing-Along, and a limited engagement of sleight of hand magician Harry Milas’ The Unfair Advantage.  

Writers Theatre is offering a variety of subscriptions with an option for every theatregoer. Each subscription includes a deeply discounted ticket price, ranging from $275-$375 for one ticket to the five-play series, Flex subscriptions, with options for either four tickets ($280) or five tickets ($350), are available.

Season package subscribers receive the new Writers Theatre concierge service for ticket exchanges and questions. Exclusive subscriber benefits include: complimentary ticket exchanges (upgrade fees may apply), special “subscriber-rate” prices on additional tickets, advance access to special events and programs, easy, free parking, exclusive discounts in bar items and merchandise, discounts on rental of Writers Theatre event spaces on Writers Theatre merchandise, event rentals, and more. For a complete list of benefits visit writerstheatre.org. 

Season Packages are available online at www.writerstheatre.org., and at the Box Office by calling 847-242-6000. 

Single tickets will go on sale for each show approximately two months prior to first preview. Single ticket prices start at $35.

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES: 

WT offers Open Captioning on select dates for each production. Please visit writerstheatre.org/accessibility for more information. 

Throughout the season, Writers Theatre offers a variety of audience enrichment and special programming. This includes regularly occurring offerings like the Family Matinee Series, The Green Room artist interview series and podcast, and The Final Word Audience Discussion Series. Please visit writerstheatre.org/events for a full listing of upcoming offerings. 

ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE  

Writers Theatre boldly looks to the future as it looks toward its 34th season. Having captivated audiences for years with its dedication to creating the most intimate theatrical experience possible, the theatre is now a major Chicagoland cultural destination with a national reputation for excellence, being called “America’s finest regional theater company” by The Wall Street Journal. Under the leadership of Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Artistic Director Braden Abraham and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, the company is charting a path forward for the next 30 years.  

Since its founding in 1992, Writers Theatre has stayed true to its core values: valuing the power of the written word and uplifting the artists who bring that word to life. The company has produced over 140 productions—everything from inventive interpretations of classics to groundbreaking new work. In 2016, Writers Theatre opened a new, state-of-the-art facility designed by the internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects. 

Writers Theatre now welcomes more than 60,000 patrons each season and has helped establish the North Shore of Chicago as a premier cultural destination. Through its Literary Development Initiative, which has been responsible for the nurturing and premiering of over 30 world premieres, the theatre has established itself as a major originator of new theatrical works. Serving as an extension of the Writers Theatre mission, WT Education programs engage an average of 10,000 students each year with active learning opportunities centered around the written word.

ABOUT TIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY

TimeLine Theatre Company, recipient of the prestigious 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, was founded in April 1997 with a mission to present stories inspired by history that connect with today's social and political issues. Currently celebrating its 28th season, TimeLine has presented 92 productions, including 14 world premieres and 42 Chicago premieres, and launched the Living History Education Program and TimeLine South summer arts program, which bring the company's mission to life for students in Chicago Public Schools and beyond. Recipient of the Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence and the Richard Goodman Strategic Planning Award from the Association for Strategic Planning, TimeLine has received 62 Jeff Awards, including an award for Outstanding Production 11 times.

The company departed its longtime home on Wellington Avenue in August 2024 and moved into temporary administrative offices a few blocks north of the site of its future new home, to be located at 5035 N. Broadway in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. Construction is ongoing on that site, where plans feature an intimate black box theater seating up to 250 audience members, expanded area for the immersive lobby experiences that are a TimeLine hallmark, new opportunities for education and engagement, room to allow audience members to arrive early and stay late, and more. For more information, visit timelinetheatre.com.

The COVID-19 pandemic shut down the intended 2020 world premiere production of Dhaba on Devon Avenue at Victory Gardens in Chicago, and a second time at Writers Theatre in 2021. This Writers Theatre and TimeLine co-production now reunites many of those original cast members and designers.

Lookingglass Theatre Company Presents World Premiere of Iraq, But Funny May 29 - July 20, 2025

 ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE OF 

IRAQ, BUT FUNNY

BY ENSEMBLE MEMBER ATRA ASDOU AND 

DIRECTED BY DALIA ASHURINA 

MAY 29 - JULY 20

Content Notice: Iraq, But Funny contains mature content and partial nudity and is intended for an adult audience. 

The estimated running time is two hours and 15 minutes including one intermission.

Tickets are Now on Sale for this Dark Comedy that Explores the History, Dysfunction and Five Generations of Assyrian Mother/Daughter Relationships from the Ottoman Empire to Modern-Day U.S.A.

Chicago’s Tony-Award winning Lookingglass Theatre Company is proud to announce the cast and creative team for its next production, the world premiere of Iraq, But Funny, May 29 - July 20, 2025, in The Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave. This semi-autobiographical play is written by Ensemble Member Atra Asdou and directed by Dalia Ashurina and features Susaan Jamshidi, Gloria Imseih Petrelli, James Rana, Sina Pooresmaeil and Atra Asdou. 

Iraq, But Funny has previews Thursday, May 29 - Saturday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, June 1 at 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday, June 4 - Friday,  June 6 at 7:30 p.m.,  with a press opening on Saturday, June 7 at 6 p.m. The performance schedule for June 8 - July 20 is Wednesdays at 7 p.m., Thursdays at 1:30 and 7 p.m., Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 1:30 and 7 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m., with additional Tuesday performances at 7 p.m. on June 17 and July 1. There will be no performances on the holidays of Juneteenth (Thursday, June 19) and the Fourth of July (Friday, July 4).  The estimated running time is two hours and 15 minutes including one intermission. Iraq, But Funny single tickets are $30 - $90 and are available at LookingglassTheatre.org.

A raucous satire about five generations of Assyrian women reclaiming their stories, as narrated by a British guy. Making its world premiere at Lookingglass Theatre, Ensemble Member Atra Asdou’s original dark comedy jauntily marches through the Ottoman Empire to modern-day U.S.A. exploring history, family and dysfunction.

"When you think of Iraq, you don't usually think of comedy. I started writing Iraq, But Funny four years ago because I needed a place to put my family's stories and wanted to share a side of my people audiences rarely see: their sense of humor,” said Playwright Atra Asdou. "Iraq, But Funny explores the cyclical nature of mother/daughter and familial/generational relationships and how they relate to the cyclical nature of invasions, war and world history.

And who better to give voice to Assyrian women than a British guy who narrates the whole thing. I'm also in the cast of Iraq, But Funny and we hope to make you laugh, learn and feel like you're part of the family, too. Who knew colonialism could be so fun!"    

The cast of Iraq, But Funny includes Susaan Jamshidi (she/her, Actor 1); Gloria Imseih Petrelli (she/they, Actor 2);  James Rana (he/him, Actor 3); Sina Pooresmaeil (he/him, Actor 4) and Atra Asdou+ (she/her, Actor 5). 

More information on the cast and creative teams may be found here: 

The creative team of Iraq, But Funny  is Atra Asdou+ (she/her, writer); Dalia Ashurina (she/her, director); Isabel Patt (they/them, stage manager); Lili Bjorklund (they/them, assistant stage manager); Omid Akbari (he/him, scenic designer); Christine A. Binder~ (she/her, lighting designer); Mara Blumenfeld+ (she/her, costumer designer);

Christie Chiles Twillie (she/her, sound designer); Avi Amon (he/him, composer); Amanda Herrmann (they/them, props designer); Michael Commendatore (he/him, projections designer) and Naysan Mojgani (he/him, dramaturg). 

+ Connotes Lookingglass Ensemble Member

~ Connotes Lookingglass Artistic Associate

ABOUT ATRA ASDOU, writer 

Atra Asdou is a writer and actor commanding traditional stage dramas (Steppenwolf, Goodman, Lookingglass, Yale Repertory) and non-traditional written and improvised comedy (The Second City, iO Chicago, Brooklyn Comedy Collective). As a Lookingglass ensemble member, she was recently awarded two writers in residencies for her full-length play, Iraq, But Funny. Asdou also wrote and performed three original, critically acclaimed satirical sketch revues for The Second City Chicago e.t.c. stage. Her debut feature screenplay, IZZA, was a beloved finalist at The Chicago International Film Festival Industry Days, and her short films, “Reneè” and “Fever” have earned festival laurels from around the world. Her recent TV/Film credits include “Zero Day” and “And Just Like That…” She lives in New York City, performing stand up around the city and improvising at Brooklyn Comedy Collective with Donna's Beef.

ABOUT DALIA ASHURINA,  director

Dalia Ashurina is an Assyrian-American director and writer focusing on explosive theatricality and subverting existing narratives. She was listed in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Hollywood and Entertainment 2025 publication. Her Broadway credits include serving as associate director of Sweeney Todd and as the resident director at Phantom of the Opera. She has worked with Shakespeare and Company, Lookingglass Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Center Theater Group, Cornerstone Theater, Arena Stage, Wayward Artists Ensemble and the Parsnip Ship Podcast. Internationally, she directed the concert “Omar Bashir,  Back to My Assyrian Roots” at the University of Salamanca in Spain. She is an alum of UC Irvine where she graduated with a B.A. in drama and honors in directing. She received a grant from the National New Play Network to write Edessa of Baghdad with composer Avi Amon and is the 2024-2025 SDCF Denham Fellow. 

ABOUT THE JOAN AND PAUL THEATRE

The main stage at the Water Tower Water Works has been named in honor of longtime Lookingglass supporters Joan and Paul Rubschlager and their transformational gift to ensure the future of Lookingglass. The couple have been instrumental in their partnership with Chicago organizations, such as Rush University and The Field Museum. Nationally, their support extends to the American Heart Association and Alzheimer's Association. The Joan and Paul Theatre reconfigures the stage and audience seating as dictated by the needs of each season, with a capacity of 200 persons including the balcony.

ABOUT LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY

Founded in 1988 by graduates of Northwestern University, Lookingglass Theatre Company is a nationwide leader in the creation and presentation of new, cutting-edge theatrical works and in sharing its ensemble-based theatrical techniques with Chicago-area students and teachers through Education and Community Programs. Guided by an artistic vision centered on the core values of collaboration, transformation and invention, Lookingglass seeks to capture audiences’ imaginations leaving them changed, charged and empowered. 

Recipient of the 2011 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, Lookingglass has built a national reputation for artistic excellence and ensemble-based theatrical innovation. Notable world premieres include Mary Zimmerman’s Tony Award-winning Metamorphoses and The Odyssey, J. Nicole Brooks' Her Honor Jane Byrne, David Schwimmer’s adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and Studs Terkel’s Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel about the American Obsession, Matthew C. Yee's Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon and David Catlin’s circus tribute to Lewis Carroll, Lookingglass Alice, which was captured by HMS Media and reached 1.6 million PBS viewers.Looking Alice is now available to more than four million students worldwide through Digital Theatre+. Work created by Lookingglass artists has been produced in Australia, Europe  and dozens of cities throughout the United States. 

MORE FROM LOOKINGGLASS

Sunset 1919

Sunday, July 27 at 7 p.m.

Eugene Williams Memorial Marker

125 Fort Dearborn Drive, Chicago 60615

1/4 mile north of 31st Street Beach

Free

LookingglassTheatre.org/event/sunset-1919-2024/

Sunset 1919 is an annual community art ritual performed in honor of Eugene Williams, a Black teenager who was killed for crossing an imaginary racial line on the waves of Mishigami (from Ojibwa “Great Water”). Sunset 1919 was first curated and coordinated in 2020 by Ensemble Member and Creative Producer Kareem Bandealy and Ensemble Member and Mellon Playwright in Residence J. Nicole Brooks and it offers a communal moment to acknowledge our Indigenous roots and for Black artists to merge movement, music and word in a free, spirit-guided ritual. 

Summergglass Camps

August 4 - 15

Lookingglass Theatre, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave. 

Enrollment: $450

LookingglassTheatre.org/summergglass-camp-2025/

Through drama and creative play, the experienced teaching artists of Summergglass will focus camp days to explore creative problem solving, collaboration, story structure, speaking directly to the audience and all the inventive visual storytelling that makes Lookingglass so special. This year’s Summerglass Camps include Paper Magic:  Shadow Puppet Camp, August 4 - 8, and Mysterious City:  Chicago Scavenger Hunt Camp, August 11 - 15. 

Mornings are spent working with teaching artists to learn many of the same theatre techniques and skills used to create Lookingglass shows. During the afternoons, campers will work on their drama skills as they create and adapt original stories to share on the final day of camp.  

Summerglass Camp: Paper Magic:  Shadow Puppet Camp 

August 4 – 8 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. 

Ages: 6 – 10 

Lights. Paper. Magic! Create epic adventures with shadow puppets as campers design, build and bring puppets to life using storytelling traditions from around the world.   

Through creative drama and movement games, this camp explores folk tales from around the world, inventing original heroes and villains and building magical stories to share! Learn the fundamentals of Lookingglass playmaking techniques, explore design and story structure  and go to the park each day for lunch. By the end of the session, friends and family are invited to join campers on a magical adventure into, and out of, the shadows.

Summerglass Camp:  Mysterious City:  Chicago Scavenger Hunt Camp

August 11 – 15 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.  

Ages 8 – 14

The Mysterious City Society needs your help! Together, campers will build a summer adventure demanding all of their creativity and daring-do. The mission:  report to the historic Lookingglass Water Tower theatre for a scavenger hunt camp that will take campers through the Lookingglass, beyond the pumping station pipes and back in time through the pop culture, music and movements and milestones of Chicago’s not-so-distant past. Young adventurers will learn the fundamentals of Lookingglass playmaking techniques, explore the structure of scavenger hunts and choose “your own adventure” stories, search for clues on walking field trips and work with Lookingglass teaching artists to create an original scavenger hunt play to share with family and friends. 

Iraq, But Funny production sponsors include MAP Fund and Venturous Theatre Fund with Manilow Suites, production supporter. 

The 2024 - 2025 season sponsors are the City of Chicago, The Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, Hearn, HMS Media, Illinois Arts Council, Joan & Paul Rubschlager, Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, Waldorf Astoria and Steve & Lorrayne Weiss.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave.

Written by Ensemble Member Atra Asdou 

Directed by Dalia Ashurina

Featuring Susaan Jamshidi, Gloria Imseih Petrelli, James Rana, Sina Pooresmaeil and Atra Asdou

Previews: Thursday, May 29 - Saturday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 1 at 1:30 p.m. 

Wednesday, June 4 - Friday,  June 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Opening Night is Saturday, June 7 at 6 p.m. 

The performance schedule for June 8 - July 20 is 

Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

Thursdays at 1:30 and 7 p.m.

Fridays at 7 p.m.

Saturdays at 1:30 and 7 p.m.

Sundays at 1:30 p.m.

with additional Tuesday performances at 7 p.m. on June 17 and July 1.

There will be no performances on the holidays of Juneteenth (Thursday, June 19) and the Fourth of July (Friday, July 4). 

Mask Required Performances: Friday, June 13 at 7 p.m and Wednesday, July 2 at 7p.m. 

Open Caption Performance:  Tuesday, June 27 at 7 p.m. 

Audio Described and Touch Tour:  Saturday, June 21 at 7 p.m. 

Website: LookingglassTheatre.org

Single tickets are $30 - $90 and are available at LookingglassTheatre.org/event/iraq-but-funny/

World Premiere of Neighborhood Watch Via Jackalope Theatre Company May 22 - June 28, 2025

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

JACKALOPE THEATRE ANNOUNCES THE WORLD PREMIERE OF 

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

MAY 22 - JUNE 28 AT THE BROADWAY ARMORY PARK

This New Play by Rehana Lew Mirza and directed by Jackalope Artistic Director Kaiser Ahmed is a Comedic Tale of Uncovering the Secrets in an American Suburbia.

Jackalope Theatre Company is proud to announce its next production after the United States premiere of Esho Rasho’s Dummy in Diaspora. Jackalope’s 17th season continues with the world premiere of Rehana Lew Mirza’s latest play, Neighborhood Watch, May 22 - June 28, directed by Kaiser Ahmed, at the Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N Broadway St. Previews are Thursday, May 22 through Friday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 25 at 2 p.m. with the press opening Tuesday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $40 with student and Edgewater resident discounts available. Subscription and single tickets are now available at JackalopeTheatre.org or call/text the box office at 773.340.2543.

In the weeks following the 2024 election, Paul, a suburban family man, lives in terror of what’s to come. When a Muslim neighbor, Mo, moves in, Paul launches into a battle of his own fears and liberal beliefs — a battle that will affect the entire neighborhood.

The Cast

(Top to bottom, Left to Right):

Harsh Gagoomal as MO RIZVI

Jamie Herb as BECCA MARCHANT

Omar Bader as JAVED ANSARI

Frank Nall as PAUL MARCHANT

Victor Holstein as SHAWN RAYMOND

Faiz Siddque as MO RIZVI U/S

Lila Rutishauser as BECCA MARCHANT U/S

Eustace Allen as PAUL MARCHANT U/S

Jordan Tannous as JAVED ANSARI U/S

JJ Gatesman as SHAWN RAYMOND U/S

The cast of Neighborhood Watch includes Frank Nall (he/him, Paul Marchant); Jamie Herb (they/them, Becca Marchant); Harsh Gagoomal (he/him, Mo (Mohammed) Rizvi); Victor Holstein (he/him, Shawn Raymond); Omar Bader (he/him, Javed Ansari); Eustace Allen (he/him, U/S Paul Marchant); Lila Rutishauser (they/them, U/S Becca Marchant); Faiz Siddique (he/him, U/S Mo (Mohammed) Rizvi); JJ Gatesman (he/him, Shawn Raymond); Jordan Tannous (they/them, U/S Javed Ansari). 

The creative team for Neighborhood Watch includes Rehana Lew Mirza (she/her, playwright); Kaiser Ahmed (he/him, director/casting director); Aden Haq (assistant director); Karina Patel (she/her, dramaturg/ new work manager); Amal Mazen Salem (she/her, production manager); Miguel Salgado Jr. (he/they, stage manager); Tianxuan Chen (she/her, scenic designer); Delena Bradley (she/her, costume designer); Roman Jones (he/they, props designer); Maaz Ahmed (they/them, lighting designer); Newton Schottelkotte (they/them, sound designer); Juan Barrera Lopez (he/him, technical director); Chase Barron (he/they, lead electrician); Tristin Hall (they/them, fight/intimacy director); Hudson Therriault (he/him, accessibility manager); Amira Danan (she/her, development director) and AJ Links, CSA (she/her, casting director).

ABOUT REHANA LEW MIRZA, PLAYWRIGHT

Rehana Lew Mirza (she/her) recently held a prestigious National Playwrights Mellon residency at Ma-Yi Theatre in New York from 2016 - 2022, after also being a playwright in residence at La Jolla Playhouse, where her musical Bhangra Nation (previously titled Bhangin’ It, 2019 Richard Rodgers Award; developed at The Orchard Project, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and their 3R program, Goodspeed and Project Springboard) premiered in 2022. It recently had its United Kingdom premiere at Birmingham Rep in February of 2024. Mirza’s plays include: Hatefuck (First Floor; Colt Coeur/WP); A People’s Guide to History in the Time of Here and Now (Primary Stages Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation's Women Playwrights Commission; AADA workshop production); Soldier X (Ma-Yi; Brooklyn College; NYSCA/Lark commission); Tomorrow, Inshallah (Living Room Theater, Kansas City; Storyworks/HuffPost commission); Neighborhood Watch (NNPN/InterAct commission) and Barriers (Desipina, Asian American Theater Company). She founded the award-winning South Asian theater and film company, Desipina & Co, alongside her sister Rohi Mirza Pandya in 2001, where together they produced the popular Seven.11 series (seven, 11-minute plays all set in a convenience store.) Additional awards/honors include: Kleban Award, Cape Cod Theatre Artist in Residence, NYFA Artist Fellow, TCG Fellowship with New Georges and an HBOAccess Writing Fellow. She currently holds a Julia Miles Playwriting Residency with WP Theater. She has an MFA from Columbia University and a BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

ABOUT KAISER AHMED, DIRECTOR

Kaiser Ahmed (he/him) is a Bangladeshi-American theatre director, producer, teacher and actor based in Chicago. He has worked as a director at Steppenwolf, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, The Artistic Home, Northlight Theatre, Silk Road Theatre, American Blues Theatre, First Floor Theatre, Rasaka Theatre and many others. Ahmed was featured in the Kilroy's Web 2023 and named on NewCity’s Players 2019 and 2022: "Fifty People Who Really Perform For Chicago”. He was the co-founding artistic director of Jackalope Theatre Company from 2008 - 2012, he continued to serve as the associate artistic director through 2019 and returned as artistic director in 2020. Recent directing credits include Queen (Penobscot), Passage (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company), Among the Dead, Fast Company (Jackalope) and Language Rooms (Broken Nose). Ahmed is a member of the Columbia College Advisory Board and the Sarah Siddons Artistic Council, a 2015-16 Eugene O’Neill National Directors Fellowship finalist, a 2016-17 Victory Gardens Directors Inclusion Initiative recipient and an associate member of SDC. He holds a BA in theatre directing from Columbia College Chicago.

ABOUT JACKALOPE THEATRE

Jackalope Theatre Company expands the definition of American Identity by engaging with communities to produce works that celebrate diverse perspectives. Jackalope is a premier home for new and exciting Off-Loop Theatre based in Chicago's Edgewater and Rogers Park neighborhoods. They are committed to cultivating new voices that contribute to an expanding American culture and mythology. Each season, Jackalope produces full-length plays, new play development programming and provides free classes in partnership with the Chicago Park District.

MORE FROM JACKALOPE

16th Annual Living Newspaper Festival 

August 21 - 25

Press Opening: Thursday, Aug, 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Performance schedule: Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and Mondays at 7:30 p.m.

The Broadway Armory, 5917 N Broadway

JackalopeTheatre.org/2024-2025-season

Tickets: $15 - $35

The Living Newspaper Festival is inspired by the 1930s Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project that created stories based on recent events. This year’s Festival will include one-act plays inspired from recent news headlines.

Performances, show times, dates are subject to change. 

Jackalope Theatre Company is proud to announce its next production after the United States premiere of Esho Rasho’s Dummy in Diaspora. Jackalope’s 17th season continues with the world premiere of Rehana Lew Mirza’s latest play, Neighborhood Watch, May 22 - June 28, directed by Kaiser Ahmed,  at the Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N Broadway St. Previews are Thursday, May 22 through Friday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, May 25 at 2 p.m., with a press opening Tuesday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $40 with student and Edgewater resident discounts available. Subscription and single tickets are now available at JackalopeTheatre.org or call/text the box office at 773.340.2543.

Jackalope Theatre expands American identity by engaging with our communities to produce works that celebrate diverse perspectives. Season 17 is made possible by the continued generosity of Season Sponsors Michael and Mona Heath.

World Premiere Co-Production of The Antiquities* On Stage at Goodman Theatre Now Through June 1, 2025

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

NINE ACTORS CREATE NEARLY 50 CHARACTERS IN 

THE ANTIQUITIES 

BY PULTIZER PRIZE FINALIST JORDAN HARRISON

**CO-DIRECTED BY DAVID CROMER AND CAITLIN SULLIVAN, THE CAST FEATURES MARCHÁNT DAVIS, LAYAN ELWAZANI, ANDREW GARMAN, HELEN JOO LEE, THOMAS MURPHY MOLONY, ARIA SHAHGHASEMI, KRISTEN SIEH, RYAN SPAHN AND AMELIA WORKMAN**

***THE WORLD-PREMIERE CO-PRO WITH PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS AND VINEYARD THEATRE IS NOMINATED FOR LUCILLE LORTEL, DRAMA LEAGUE AND OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS FOR BEST NEW PLAY/PRODUCTION, WITH CROMER AND SULLIVAN EARNING DRAMA DESK AWARD NODS FOR BEST DIRECTOR*** 

Next up at Goodman Theatre is “the finest new play of the season” (Wall Street Journal). Pulitzer Prize finalist playwright Jordan Harrison (Marjorie Prime, Maple and Vine)’s newest work, A Tour of the Permanent Collection in the Museum of Late Human Antiquities or, just The Antiquities—a startling and transcendent portrait of the present as seen from the future—is on stage now in preview performances. 

A world-premiere co-production between the Goodman, Playwrights Horizons and Vineyard Theatre, The Antiquities arrives in Chicago on the heels of its extended critically acclaimed Off-Broadway bow—where it earned “Best New Play/Production” nominations by the Lucille Lortel, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Co-directors David Cromer (Broadway’s Good Night, and Good Luck with George Clooney and Dead Outlaw, 2025 Tony Award Nomination for Best Director of a Musical) and Caitlin Sullivan (Off-Broadway's Find Me Here and The Keep Going Songs) also earned a Drama Desk Award nod for “Outstanding Direction of a Play.” 

The cast of nine portraying 47 characters across the eras, features Marchánt Davis, Layan Elwazani, Andrew Garman, Helen Joo Lee, Thomas Murphy Molony, Aria Shahghasemi, Kristen Sieh, Ryan Spahn and Amelia Workman. A full cast list appears below, along with the special events around the production. Currently in preview performances, The Antiquities opens May 12 and appears through June 1 in the Goodman’s 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. Tickets ($20 - $65; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Antiquities or by phone at 312.443.3800. Goodman Theatre is grateful for the support of Contributing Sponsors Bank of America, Jenner & Block and Russell Reynolds Associates and the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation (Citation of Excellence).

“In a season filled with unprecedented, big-idea-filled works that don’t compare with anything else, it felt essential to produce the newest work by the incomparable Jordan Harrison—one of the most fearless contemporary playwrights and one known for taking on the big stuff,” said Goodman Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. “The Antiquities is nothing less than a treatise on what it means to be human. And, true to form, Jordan is asking giant questions with a kind of bravery and confidence that makes you feel that he’s the right person to join hands with and wade into the really deep waters—together with the estimable directorial duo of Caitlin Sullivan and Chicago’s own David Cromer. We’re proud to collaborate with Playwrights Horizons and Vineyard Theatre to bring this fantastic new play to Chicago.”

Hailed as a “vividly imagined” (Wall Street Journal), “highly provocative and clever examination of humanity” (New York Stage Review), The Antiquities gives “a chilling perspective on where technology may be taking us” (New York Sun). At the Museum of Late Human Antiquities, the curators are fiercely committed to bringing a lost civilization to life again: What were humans really like? What did they wear, what did they eat, how did they die out? Casting the audience into the far future, Harrison’s new play provides an uncanny view of the present moment, which straddles the analog world that was and the post-human world to come.

The nine-member cast assumes multiple characters across the eras—from 19th century writers imagining the unimaginable, to 2010s Silicon Valley innovators, and hard-bitten survivors in the far future—including Marchánt Davis (Broadway: Good Night, Oscar, Ain't No Mo', The Great Society) as Man 2; Layan Elwazani (Broadway: The Band’s Visit; Regional: Noura, We Live in Cairo) as Woman 4; Andrew Garman (Playwrights: The Christians; Off-Broadway: Greater Clements, Admissions) as Man 3; Helen Joo Lee (Goodman: The Penelopiad) as Woman 3; Thomas Murphy Molony (Goodman: Inherit the Wind, Highway Patrol) as Boy; Aria Shahghasemi (Broadway: Prayer for the French Republic; TV: “The Penguin,” “Legacies”) as Man 1, Kristen Sieh (Playwrights: Men on Boats; Vineyard: Scene Partners; Broadway: The Band’s Visit) as Woman 1, Ryan Spahn (Vineyard: Gloria; Off Broadway: Jordans, Merry Me) as Man 4; and Amelia Workman (Broadway: American Son; Off Broadway: Fefu and Her Friends, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World) as Woman 2.

“This is a 15-year obsession on my part with technology and the way it's changing, and not changing, what it means to be human. For me, it’s always important to challenge my tendency to think, ‘digital = bad,’ and with The Antiquities, that’s meant finding a playfulness and a humanness in the way computers would try to understand us after we’re extinct,” said playwright Jordan Harrison, whose Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Marjorie Prime also probes the limits of memory, identity and progress.

Envisioning, in the Goodman’s 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre, a museum’s attempt “to smoosh our entire civilization into a vitrine,” Harrison describes, the creative team includes Paul Steinberg (Scenic Designer), Brenda Abbandandolo (Costume Designer), Tyler Micoleau (Lighting Designer), Christopher Darbassie (Sound Designer), Leah Loukas (Wig and Hair Designer), Sarah Lunnie (Dramaturg) and Jeremy Chernick (SFX Consultant).

David Cromer said, “We always think we may have lost something as we move ahead, which is true: maybe we've lost not knowing and thus lost innocence. And we always think we might be missing something. But that’s inherently part of our human grasping, it’s why we search: and these other beings are searching as well.”

Caitlin Sullivan said, “Jordan, David, and I are attempting to think about what an emotional and embodied experience might be when we're all gone. When humanity has been reduced to specific artifacts—where snippets and imaginings leave the space to feel our absence, and the impossibility of representing us fully.”

SPECIAL EVENTS FOR THE ANTIQUITIES

Play On Words: A Conversation with Poet Ruben Quesada

Wednesday, May 21 | 6 – 7:15pm; $5 ticket includes light refreshments

Join us for a conversation with lauded poet Ruben Quesada as he guides us through his poem in response to The Antiquities. Reservations are required.

AI: Preserving the Past for the Future

Friday, May 23 | $60 ticket includes the 6pm Reception and 7:30pm Performance

Explore the fascinating intersection of artificial intelligence and history at this Goodman CONTEXT event. Join scholars and artists in an open dialogue about how AI is transforming our futures while discovering new methods to preserve and study our past.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Jordan Harrison (he/him) was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Marjorie Prime, which had its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons after premiering at the Mark Taper Forum. Other plays include Maple and Vine, Log Cabin, and Doris to Darlene (all at Playwrights Horizons), The Amateurs (Vineyard Theatre), The Grown-Up (Humana Festival), Amazons and their Men (Clubbed Thumb), Futura (NAATCO, Portland Center Stage), Act a Lady (Humana Festival), and Finn in the Underworld (Berkeley Rep). He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Hodder Fellowship, the Kesselring Prize, and the Horton Foote Prize for Best New American Play. TV and Film: Three seasons as writer-producer on the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black,” as well as Netflix’s “GLOW” and AMC’s “Dispatches from Elsewhere.” A film adaptation of Marjorie Prime premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Prize. Harrison’s debut novel, Miss Archer, will be published by William Morrow/HarperCollins next year, and he is writing the screenplay adaptation for 3000 Pictures.

David Cromer (he/him) directed the world premiere of Prayer for the French Republic Off-Broadway. Also in New York: Camp Siegfried, A Case for the Existence of God, The Sound Inside, The Band’s Visit, The Treasurer, The House of Blue Leaves, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Nikolai and the Others, The Effect, When the Rain Stops Falling, Tribes, Adding Machine, Our Town, and Orson’s Shadow. For his work he has received a Tony Award, a Drama Desk, three Obies, three Lortels, and in 2010 he was named a MacArthur Foundation fellow.

Caitlin Sullivan (she/her) is a director and theater maker based in New York City. Recent work includes Find Me Here (Crystal Finn/Clubbed Thumb), The Keep Going Songs (The Bengsons/LCT3), The Good John Proctor (Talene Monahon/Bedlam), Nova (Obehi Janice/Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and Pemberley Productions), United States vs Gupta (Deepali Gupta/JACK in collaboration with New Georges), WORK HARD HAVE FUN MAKE HISTORY (reid tang/Clubbed Thumb), Ohio (The Bengsons/Actors Theatre of Louisville and piece by piece productions), and Sanctuary City (Martyna Majok/NYTW). Caitlin co-founded Seattle's critically acclaimed Satori Group. As Artistic Director, she created and/or directed seven original works. Born and raised in Boston (Dorchester!), Caitlin is a graduate of Williams College; an alum of the Drama League Directors Project, the Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship and the New Georges Jam; and a New Georges Affiliate Artist.

Full Company of The Antiquities (in alphabetical order)

By Jordan Harrison

Directed by David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan

Marchánt Davis...Man 2

Layan Elwazani...Woman 4

Andrew Garman...Man 3

Helen Joo Lee...Woman 3

Thomas Murphy Molony...Boy

Aria Shahghasemi...Man 1

Kristen Sieh...Woman 1

Ryan Spahn...Man 4

Amelia Workman...Woman 2

Understudies for this production include Arash Fakhrabadi, Raymond Fox, Jennifer Jelsema, Jaylon Muchison, Dana Saleh Omar, Leighton Tantillo and Emily Tate.

Creative Team

Based on an Original Set Design by…Paul Steinberg

Costume Designer…Brenda Abbandandolo

Lighting Designer…Tyler Micoleau

Sound Designer…Christoher Darbassie

Wig and Hair Design…Lea Loukas

Dramaturgy..Sarah Lunnie

Casting is by Alaine Alldaffer, CSA, Lisa Donadio, CSA and Lauren Port, CSA. Patrick Fries is the Production Stage Manager.

ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES AT GOODMAN THEATRE

ASL-Interpreted Performance: Friday, May 23 at 7:30pm – Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played.

Touch Tour* and Audio-Described Performance: Saturday, May 24, 12:30pm Touch Tour; 2pm performance – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset.

Spanish-Subtitled Performance: Saturday, May 24 at 7:30pm – An LED sign presents Spanish-translated dialogue in sync with the performance.

Open-Captioned Performance: Sunday, May 25 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.

Playwrights Horizons is a writer’s theater in New York City committed to the advancement of bold and visionary playwrights, through the development and production of daring new work and the education of future theatermakers. Adam Greenfield has served as Artistic Director since 2020; Casey York became Managing Director in 2024. For over 50 years, the organization has distinguished itself by a steadfast commitment to centering the voice of the playwright. It’s a mission that is always timely, and one that’s necessary in the ongoing evolution of theater in this country. By expanding the U.S. theater canon with a wider range of voices, Playwrights Horizons aims to be a home for the exploration of playwriting and an anti-racist center of curiosity, dialogue, and artistic risk.

Vineyard Theatre (Sarah Stern and Douglas Aibel, Artistic Directors; Moogie Brooks, Managing Producer) is one of the country’s leading theatres for the development and production of new plays and musicals, dedicated to nurturing a community of daring theatremakers whose work expands the form, the field, and the larger culture. From our home in New York City’s Union Square, Vineyard has launched more than 150 new works and has sent eleven shows to Broadway, including the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q, Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prizewinning How I Learned to Drive, and Tina Satter’s Is This A Room (now HBO’s Reality). The Vineyard produced the acclaimed world-premiere of Jordan Harrison’s The Amateurs in 2016, and previously collaborated with the Goodman on Lucas Hnath’s Dana H. and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Gloria. Vineyard’s work has been recognized with the industry’s highest honors, including special Drama Desk, Obie, and Lucille Lortel Awards for artistic excellence.

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. Led by Walter Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director John Collins, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards.

The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.

Using the tools of theatrical practice, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand and empathize with cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

Goodman Theatre was built on the unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi Nations. We recognize that many other Nations consider the area we now call Chicago as their traditional homeland—including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo and Mascouten and remains home to many Native peoples today. The Goodman is proud to have a relationship with Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum. Located in Evanston, the Museum honors the survival and perseverance of Indigenous communities and promotes a greater understanding of Indigenous peoples: gichigamiin-museum.org.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.

Julie Danis is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Lorrayne Weiss is Women’s Board President and Kelli Garcia is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

World Premiere of Black Bone Via Definition Theatre May 30 to June 29, 2025

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Definition Theatre Company announces world premiere of 

Black Bone

by Tina Fakhrid-Deen

first full production to emerge from the company's Amplify festival

First Full Production to Emerge from Company’s Amplify Series Directly followed by the return of the Amplify Festival of New Works

Definition Theatre is proud to present the world premiere of Black Bone, a bold new satire by Chicago playwright Tina Fakhrid-Deen and the first full production to emerge from the company’s Amplify Series. Directed by Carla Stillwell, Black Bone will run from May 30 to June 29, 2025 at Definition @ 55th (1160 E. 55th St, Chicago, IL) with a press opening on Thursday, June 5 at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $25 and are on sale now.

A winner of Amplify Series Two, Black Bone is a sharp satirical fantasy that blurs the line between game show theatrics and real life. The story follows a group of Black academics at a predominantly white institution who uncover a shocking truth: one among them has been "passing" as Black. What begins as disbelief quickly spirals into mutiny, paranoia, and chaos—with consequences that turn deadly. As tensions rise, Black Bone fearlessly interrogates who gets to define Blackness, and what it means to belong.

“I did not get into Amplify the first time that I applied,” says playwright Tina Fakhrid-Deen. “It only motivated me to tighten up and resubmit a better script. I’m so thankful that Definition Theatre started this fantastic Amplify program to help lesser known, local playwrights like me to develop our work and feel supported and seen. And to be the first Amplify winner to have a production is an extraordinary honor. This process has taught me to #stayinit because dreams don’t work unless you do!”

The cast for Black Bone includes Ensemble Member Martasia Jones as Nella, with Melanie Hubbard as Dean Ivory, Matthew Lolar as Cruz, Patrick Newson Jr. as Woodfence, and Marlene Slaughter as Keisha.

Now in its fifth iteration, the Amplify program is Definition Theatre’s new works initiative dedicated to uplifting Chicago-based playwrights through professional development, readings, and production opportunities. Black Bone marks a major milestone in the program’s evolution and Definition’s commitment to cultivating bold new theatrical voices.

Carla Stillwell directs this with support by Assistant Director Michelle Renee Bester and Production Manager Zavarie Z. Irons. The stage is managed by Ariel Beller, with casting by AJ Links and casting coordination by Carley Cornelius. The visual world was brought to life by Scenic Designer Isa Noe, Technical Director Jason Scott Clark, Costume Director Kotryna Hilko, Lighting Designer Garrett Bell (assisted by Emily Curran and Lead Electrician Louis Lothan), Sound Designer Satya Chavez, Props Designer Paloma Locsin, and Projections Designer Eme Ospina-Lopez. Dramaturgy was provided by Lydia Moss.

Definition Theatre is also excited to announce the return of its annual Amplify New Play Festival (ANPF) this July at the Reva & David Logan Center for the Arts in Hyde Park, 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637. This vibrant community celebration brings together emerging voices in theater through a fusion of creative development classes, film and live performance.

The 2025 festival spotlights the Amplify Series Five winners under the theme “Rhythm & Resonance”— this series challenged writers to explore how rhythm, tone, and language shape storytelling, fusing poetry and music into a symphony of meaning. The festival will feature film screenings of the Series Five finalists, providing a dynamic platform for new and diverse storytellers.

The finalists for Amplify Series Five are Bristen Baity, Dawn Bless, Isis Elizabeth, Faylita Hicks, Lip Lewis, Jessica F. Morrison, Jamaque Newberry, and walker lee.

The Festival will showcase filmed scenes from all 8 finalists alongside additional programming including readings from Amplify Series Four winners, showcasing the continued development of Chicago’s most promising new work. Attendees will also have access to introductory artist workshops led by industry professionals, offering hands-on learning opportunities for aspiring creatives of all backgrounds.

Events will occur throughout July 2025, with full programming hosted at the Logan Center for the Arts.

Featuring: Ensemble Member Martasia Jones as Nella, with Melanie Hubbard as Dean Ivory, Matthew Lolar as Cruz, Patrick Newson Jr. as Woodfence, and Marlene Slaughter as Keisha.

Dates: May 30 – June 29, 2025

Press Opening: June 5, 2025 at 7:30pm

Location: Definition @ 55th | 1160 E. 55th Street, Chicago, IL

Tickets: On sale now at definitiontheatre.org

ABOUT DEFINITION THEATRE

Definition Theatre has been a vibrant force for over a decade, celebrating stories created with, inspired by, and intended for people and communities of color. Through the act of making, Definition expands perspectives, stewards resources, and bridges the possibilities found at the intersection of art, innovation, and education. Known for bold and impactful productions, we’ve brought to life plays by Oscar-winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, Pulitzer Prize-winners James Ijames and Jackie Sibblies Drury, and Tony Award-winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. We strive to promote equity, foster empathy, and enhance the quality of life for our community members by offering opportunities for creative, entrepreneurial, and cultural expression. Our work emphasizes collaboration in theater-making and raises awareness of career paths in the arts. In 2024, Definition leased and equipped a storefront space in Hyde Park, enabling us to engage artists and expand programs as we prepare for our permanent home in Woodlawn on the southside of Chicago. This new theater, community center, and business incubator will amplify and preserve BIPOC voices, promote social justice, and empower the next generation of artists, entrepreneurs, and changemakers to drive positive progress through the transformative power of the arts.

Definition Ensemble members include: Adia Alli, Owais Ahmed, Ariel Beller, Jared Bellot, Carley Cornelius, Ari Craven, Julie Jachym, Willow James, Martasia Jones, Slick Jorgensen, Yeaji Kim, Kristy Hall, James Ijames, Julie Jachym, Willow James, Kiki Layne, Kelson Michael McAuliffe, Victor Musoni, Neel McNeill, Sophiyaa Nayar, Karyn Oates, Alexandra Oparka, Julian Parker, Maya Vinice Prentiss, Tyrone Phillips, Ireon Roach, Jacqueline Rosas, Christopher Sheard, and Dujon Smith.

Definition Artistic Advisory Board members include: director May Adrales, Steppenwolf ensemble member Alana Arenas, actress Shannon Cochran, actor Brandon Dirden, actor Jason Dirden, actor Jon Michael Hill, director Pam Mackinnon, Equity Quotient CEO Keryl McCord, professor JW Morrissette, director Ron OJ Parson, professor/lighting designer Kathy Perkins, media producer and host Troy Osborne Pryor, Tony Award-winning actress and stage director Phylicia Rashad, and Goodman Theatre director in residence Chuck Smith. Tyrone Phillips is the Artistic Director, Neel McNeill is the Executive Director, Willow James is the Civic Engagement Director. 

For additional information, visit definitiontheatre.org and @definitiontheatre on Facebook and Instagram #stayinit

REVIEW: Goodman's World Premiere of BUST Is a Boom; Now Playing Through May 18, 2025

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

World Premiere of 

BUST 

BY PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST ZORA HOWARD 

co-produced with Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre 

Now Playing Through May 18, 2025

(L-R) Renika Williams-Blutcher, Raymond Anthony Thomas, Ivan Cecil Walks, Caroline Clay, Bernard Gilbert and Victoria Omoregie. Credit HugoHentoff

REVIEW

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we were so excited to catch opening night of the world premiere production of BUST at Goodman Theatre. In our current real life dystopia, black and brown people are increasingly unjustly arrested, attacked, and literally disappeared. This visually stunning show flips the script and makes disappearing a superpower, not a victimization, but at what cost to friends and family? Now that racism in the US no longer hides beneath a hood, BUST is more than timely. 

(L-R) Cecil Blutcher, Victoria Omoregie, Bernard Gilbert and Ivan Cecil Walks. Credit: JustinBarbin

It's not what you think: 

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word bust? Boobs... a takedown by the cops... a downturn in the economy? This BUST is a boom... a sudden increase. An increase in frequency or popularity. Without giving too many spoilers, this BUST is about busting past rage to a safe alternate reality. It's about busting open the very fabric of reality. It's a movement that starts as an accident and accelerates to intention, involving escalating numbers of people.

In an era where our government is actively trying to disappear DEI, black history, thought provoking social commentary, and the work of smart women, this laugh-out-loud new drama is an endangered species. We're thrilled to see a show with a plethora of juicy parts for black men and women who aren't just criminals, victims, period piece slaves, or dealing exclusively with racist trauma. This production is both written and directed by black women. The mere existence of BUST is subversive as hell, and we're here for it. 

(L-R) Raymond Anthony Thomas, Caroline Clay and Cecil Blutcher. Credit: JustinBarbin 

The heavy subject matter, focusing on the experiences of African Americans in the United States, includes themes of rage, police brutality, and institutionalized racism, but there's plenty of humor and playful fun to provide levity. They don't call it comic relief for nothin', and Zora Howard gets the balance right. Her characters and scenes are both comedic and suspenseful, providing both a hilarious, highly entertaining show, and a piece that will get under your skin and make you think.

(L-R) Mark Bedard and Jorge Luna. Credit: HugoHentoff

Howard is not only an award winning writer, director, and actor. This Harlem born and raised powerhouse is birthing a whole new genre of work she calls "Afrocurrentist". This new form of theater is both African American and relevant to contemporary issues. 

(L-R) Cecil Blutcher and Keith Randolph Smith. Credit:JustinBarbin

Special shout out to the excellent set design, sound design, and lighting. They made the time/space travel and new world building a wonder, and a delight to experience. This world premiere production had a pre-Goodman run with the same cast at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre, which may seem like it would be a simple transition to a new space. However, the stage dimensions, sight lines, and mechanics between the locations were quite different, so all those elements had to be reworked and changed for the Goodman run. Actors had to relearn new lighting cues, and the technical elements of the complicated visuals and set changes had to be redesigned. I'm still in awe of all the people on and off stage who collaborate and bring their own areas of creative expertise into play, in the service of storytelling. 

Proud mom moment: My son’s on run crew, helping make the magic happen, as he was for Goodman's Christmas Carol this past season. Kudos to the entire cast and crew for bringing this thought provoking piece to life, and to Lileana Blain-Cruz for expert directing. BUST is excellent storytelling, perfect for turbulent times. Don't miss this! Recommended. ★★★ Three out of four stars.

Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, artist, and Mama to 2 amazing adults. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).

**LILEANA BLAIN-CRUZ'S CAST FEATURES MARK BEDARD, CECIL BLUTCHER, CAROLINE CLAY, BERNARD GILBERT, CAITLIN HARGRAVES, JORGE LUNA, VICTORIA OMOREGIE, KEITH RANDOLPH SMITH, RAYMOND ANTHONY THOMAS, IVAN CECIL WALKS AND RENIKA WILLIAMS-BLUTCHER**

***THE WORLD-PREMIERE CO-PRODUCTION WITH ALLIANCE THEATRE IS PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH SONIA FRIEDMAN PRODUCTIONS, KHALIAH NEAL AND THOMAS SWAYNE*** 

Hell isn’t the only thing that breaks loose in BUST. A finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and co-produced with Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre and produced in association with Sonia Friedman Productions, Khaliah Neal and Thomas Swayne, the cast for the world-premiere production features Mark Bedard, Cecil Blutcher, Caroline Clay, Bernard Gilbert, Caitlin Hargraves, Jorge Luna, Victoria Omoregie, Keith Randolph Smith, Raymond Anthony Thomas, Ivan Cecil Walks and Renika Williams-Blutcher. 

JustinBarbin: (L-R) Cecil Blutcher and Ivan Cecil Walks

BUST appears April 19 – May 18 (opening night is April 28 at 7pm). Tickets ($25 - $85; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Bust or by phone at 312.443.3800. Goodman Theatre is grateful for the support of Allstate (Major Corporate Sponsor), the BOLD Theater’s Women’s Leadership Circle, an initiative of the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation (BOLD Ventures Grant), Laurents/Hatcher Foundation (Theater Development Grant), WBEZ Chicago (Media Sponsor) and The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust (Lead Funder of IDEAA Programming).

“BUST is absolutely unlike anything I’ve ever seen on a stage before. In one sit-down at the theater, this thrilling new play ranges from high comedy to transcendent drama—beginning in ways that feel familiar and moving to whole new worlds. Zora Howard’s masterful writing is in gifted hands with Lileana Blain-Cruz, one of the most sought-after directors working today,” said Artistic Director Susan V. Booth.

In BUST, Retta and Reggie are enjoying their usual evening on the porch when a longtime neighbor is pulled over by the police just before turning into his driveway. Everything goes as expected—until the unexpected happens. Humor, suspense and surrealism converge in this gripping exploration of what it costs to be Black and free.

"At its core, BUST is a meditation on rage," said playwright Zora Howard. "It asks, 'What if Black people could use the rage that we carry, with which we are in such constant and intimate relationship, for our own constructive and collective gain?' It is an offering—an invitation for all of us to consider how we might harness our rage, what we can move with it.”

(L-R) Raymond Anthony Thomas and Caroline Clay. Credit: JustinBarbin

Added Director Lileana Blain-Cruz, “There’s a real invitation at the center of this play to experience something new, to be part of a radical act of imagination. In BUST, the audience has the opportunity to recognize themselves in these characters. We get to simultaneously live inside their humanity and the absurdity of what it means to be alive in the world today.” 

The BUST cast features Mark Bedard (TV/HBO Max: The Gilded Age) as Tomlin/Jack, Cecil Blutcher (TV/Paramount+: The Game, Signature Theatre Co.: The Hot Wing King) as Trent, Renika Williams-Blutcher (Starz: P-Valley) as Krystal, Caroline Stefanie Clay (Broadway: The Little Foxes and Doubt) as Retta, Bernard Gilbert (TV/Showtime: The Chi, Goodman Theatre: How to Catch Creation) as Zeke, Caitlin Hargraves (Alliance Theatre: A Christmas Carol, TV/HBO Max: Mi Casa) as Ms. Pinto, Jorge Luna (TV/Netflix: Zero Day) as Ramirez, Victoria Omoregie (Alliance Theatre: Fat Ham, The Huntington Theatre: John Proctor is the Villain) as Paige, Keith Randolph Smith (Film: Malcolm X, Alliance Theatre: God of Carnage, National Theatre, London: Jitney) as Mr. Woods, Ray Anthony Thomas (Film: American Fiction, The Harbinger and Pariah) as Reggie, and Ivan Cecil Walks (The Huntington Theatre: K-I-S-S-I-N-G) as Boobie. Understudies include Jodi Gage, Cory Hardin, Gabrielle Lott-Rogers, Vernon Mina, Patrick Newson, Jr., Joseph Primes and Jazzy Rush.

Zora Howard (Playwright) is a Harlem-bred writer and director. Plays include STEW (2021 Pulitzer Prize Finalist; P73 Productions), THE MASTER’S TOOLS (Wiener Festwochen; WTF), HANG TIME (The Flea), THE MOTIONS, and GOOD FAITH. Her work has been developed at Ojai Playwrights Conference, Stillwright, Mercury Store, and Cape Cod Theatre Project, among others. In 2020, her feature film Premature, which she co-wrote with director Rashaad Ernesto Green, opened in theaters following its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Howard is a Lilly Award and Helen Merrill Award recipient, a former MTC Judith Champion Fellow and Lark Van Lier New Voices Fellow and alumna of the P73 I-73 Writers Group. She is currently under commission from Seattle Rep and Chautauqua Theatre Company. zoramakes.com.

Lileana Blain-Cruz is a director from New York City and Miami. She is the recipient of the Drama League’s 2022 Founders Award for Excellence in Directing and is currently the resident director of Lincoln Center Theater. Blain-Cruz was named a 2021 Doris Duke Artist, a 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist, and a 2018 United States Artists Fellow. Recent projects include: El Niño (Metropolitan Opera); The Skin of Our Teeth (Lincoln Center, Tony nomination); Stranger Love (LA Philharmonic); Flex (Lincoln Center, Audelco Award Nomination); Create Dangerously (Miami New Drama); White Girl in Danger (Vineyard / Second Stage); The Listeners (Opera Norway); Dreaming Zenzile (NYTW/National Black Theatre); Marys Seacole (LCT3, Obie Award); Wayne Shorter and esperanza spalding’s …(Iphigenia) (MASS MoCA, Arts Emerson, The Kennedy Center); Hansel and Gretel (a film for Houston Grand Opera); Afrofemononomy (PSNY); Anatomy of a Suicide (Atlantic Theater Company); Fefu and Her Friends (TFANA); Girls (Yale Rep.); Faust (Opera Omaha); Fabulation, Or the Reeducation of Undine (Signature Theatre); Thunderbodies and Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (Soho Rep.); The House That Will Not Stand and Red Speedo (New York Theatre Workshop); Water by the Spoonful (Mark Taper Forum/CTG); Pipeline (Lincoln Center); The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA The Negro Book of the Dead (Signature Theatre, Obie Award); Henry IV, Part One and Much Ado About Nothing (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Bluest Eye (The Guthrie); War (LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater and Yale Rep.); Salome (JACK); Hollow Roots (Under the Radar Festival at The Public Theater). Upcoming: Purple Rain. 

Full Company of BUST (in alphabetical order)

By Zora Howard

Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz

Mark Bedard…Tomlin/Jack

Cecil Butcher…Trent

Caroline Clay…Retta

Bernard Gilbert…Zeke

Caitlin Hargraves…Ms. Pinto/Newscaster

Jorge Luna…Ramirez

Victoria Omoregie…Paige

Keith Randolph Smith…Mr. Woods

Raymond Anthony Thomas…Reggie

Ivan Cecil Walks…Boobie

Renika Williams-Blutcher…Krystal

Understudies for this production include Jodi Gage, Cory Hardin, Gabrielle Lott-Rogers, Vernon Mina, Patrick Newson, Jr., Joseph Primes and Jazzy Rush.

Creative Team

Associate Director…Malkia Stampley|

Set Designer…Matthew Saunders

Costume Designer…Dominique Fawn Hill

Lighting Designer…Yi Zhao

Associate Lighting Designer…Jonah Bobilin

Sound Designer…Mikaal Sulaiman

Ethnomusicologist…DJ Reborn

Special Effects Designer...Jeremy Chernick

Fight Choreographer...Rocio Mendez

Casting is by Jody Feldman, CSA and Lauren Port, CSA. shiku thuo is the Production Stage Manager.

ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES AT GOODMAN THEATRE

ASL-Interpreted Performance: Friday, May 9 at 7:30pm – Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played.

Touch Tour* and Audio-Described Performance: Saturday, May 10, 12:30pm Touch Tour; 2pm performance – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset.

Spanish-Subtitled Performance: Saturday, May 10 at 7:30pm – An LED sign presents Spanish-translated dialogue in sync with the performance.

Open-Captioned Performance: Sunday, May 11 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.

Visit Goodmantheatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.

ABOUT ALLIANCE THEATRE

Founded in 1968, Alliance Theatre is the leading producing theater in the Southeast, reaching more than 165,000 patrons annually. The Alliance is led by Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses and Managing Director Mike Schleifer. The Alliance is a recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award® for sustained excellence in programming, education, and community engagement. In January 2019, the Alliance opened its new, state-of-the-art performance space, The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre. Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 140 productions including eleven that have transferred to Broadway. The Alliance education department reaches more than 90,000 students annually through performances, classes, camps, and in-school initiatives designed to support teachers and enhance student learning. The Alliance Theatre values community, curiosity, collaboration, and excellence, and is dedicated to representing Atlanta's diverse community with the stories we tell, the artists, staff, and leadership we employ, and audiences we serve. www.alliancetheatre.org

ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. Led by Walter Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director John Collins, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades.

The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.

Using the tools of theatrical practice, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand and empathize with cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

Goodman Theatre was built on the unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi Nations. We recognize that many other Nations consider the area we now call Chicago as their traditional homeland—including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo and Mascouten and remains home to many Native peoples today. The Goodman is proud to have a relationship with Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum. Located in Evanston, the Museum honors the survival and perseverance of Indigenous communities and promotes a greater understanding of Indigenous peoples: gichigamiin-museum.org.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.

Julie Danis is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Lorrayne Weiss is Women’s Board President and Kelli Garcia is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.